Jim Murren, CEO of MGM Resorts International, has said Nevada regulators are set to issue an online gaming licence to his company in the coming days.
Murren also revealed that a number of states are in discussions to enter compacts that would enable interstate gaming and the creation of a viable interactive gambling market. The news comes just days after it was disclosed Native American tribes are gearing up to launch their first online poker room later this month.
"We are encouraged to know that states are talking to one another,” said Murren. “They are crafting their own legislation and legal frameworks but are talking with other states in anticipation of compacting with multiple states.”
Any compact between states for the purpose of improving a shared resource, such as an interactive gambling market, is likely to require approval from Congress but the major federal hurdles were cleared last year when the US Justice Department declared that only online betting on sporting contests was unlawful.
Along with New Jersey and Delaware, Nevada has been one of the early movers as the US edges nearer a regulated online gaming industry which could be worth up to $10bn annually within five years.
